Eaves-box strainer



Nov. 5, 1968 R. LAWRENCE 3,409,138

EAVES'BOX STRAINER Filed Sept. 15. 1967 INVENTOR. i050? Jar/ends United States Patent 3,409,138 EAVES-BOX STRAINER Robert Lawrence, 2035 W. Montgomery Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19121 Filed Sept. 15, 1967, Ser. No. 668,136 2 Claims. (Cl. 210238) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An eaves-box strainer insertable into the top of a downspout including a fiat, circular, perforated pan, an optional perforated cylinder projecting axially and upwardly from the pan and offset lateral brackets for supporting the strainer at the top of the downspout.

The invention relates in general to the art of roof drains and more particularly is directed to a roof drain or downspout anti-clogging device.

The upper ends of roof leaders and downspouts have long presented problems for home owners, maintenance men and building custodians, because of the likelihood of twigs, leaves and other debris accumulating on the roof and gutters and then entering the downspout mouth under the impetus of water flow during periods of rainstorms. If left unchecked, the buildup of such foreign materials could readily cause blockage of either the downspout itself or of the bottom attached drain lateral. Such stoppages are always troublesome in view of the generally inaccessible location of most roof drains, and in the case of underground clogging, the necessary corrective measures can become quite costly. During winter periods, it is also important to prevent the accumulation of ice and snow at the drain inlet to thereby permit a free and uninterrupted flow of melted and semi-melted ice and snow into and down the downspout.

Prior workers in the field have tried numerous devices to solve the problem and all have met with more or less limited success. One such device incorporates an inwardly inclined skirt and a perforated dome and is securely bolted to the downspout construction. Another device employs a clamping ring in cooperation with dome-shaped strainer and is provided with a plurality of peripheral openings. Still another prior art strainer utilizes a screen member having slots in the side walls and in a dome, the entire assembly being threaded directly into the downspout.

The prior art devices all suffer from serious shortcomings, such as difiiculty in installation, problems in servicing, high initial cost and unwieldy and heavy construction.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved strainer of the type set forth.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide an eaves-box strainer for installation on roofs or in any other suitable location, particularly when the strainer is not subject to frequent inspection.

It is another object of the invention to provide an eaves box strainer constructed of a minimum number of parts and designed to conduct liquids into a downspout without clogging.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a strainer that is adapted to be inserted into downspouts and leaders to restrict leaves and other debris from entering th drain tubes to clog the same.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an eaves-box strainer including lateral, offset brackets to facilitate ready installation and removal of the device.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide an eaves-box strainer that is composed of parts that are quickly and readily assembled in a convenient manner to reduce to a minimum the production cost of the strainer.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an eaves-box strainer that is compact and of unitary structure and is efficient in operation.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an eaves-box strainer that is simple in construction, inexpensive in manufacture and trouble-free upon use.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention will be had by referring to the following description and claims of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the eaves-box strainer.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2, showing the strainer in place at the top of a downspout.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows, showing the strainer in place at the top of a downspout.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a modified type of eaves-box strainer.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the modified strainer of FIG. 5.

Although specific terms are used in the following de scription for the sake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to the particular structure of my invention selected for illustration in the drawings and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, I show a strainer generally designated A comprising a generally circular, flat pan 10 which is horizontally disposed within the mouth of a conventional downspout 12 in such a manner as to receive the effluent from a conventional hanging gutter or eaves-box 14.

As can be observed in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a plurality of holes 16 randomly perforate the pan 1-6 to permit passage of the liquid efliuent from rain storms. A substantial percentage of the pan surface 18 remains between the holes 16 and serves to trap solid particles that are too large to pass the holes 16. In this manner, rainwater and small suspended solids drain through the pan into the downspout 12 and thence to the sewer not shown. It can readily be observed that the perforated pan 10 serves as a strainer and thus traps larger solids such as twigs, leaves and other materials that may fall into the gutter or eavesbox 14.

A pair of laterally offset brackets 20, 22 rise vertically from diametrically opposed edges of the pan 10 and are employed to removably suspend the pan in horizontal position within the mouth of the downspout 12. Each bracket 20, 22 comprises a vertical leg 24, 26 which are fabricated of equal size to assure horizontal disposition of the pan 10 when in place. The bracket 20 bends outwardly at the top of the leg 24 at ninety degrees to provide a lateral gutter engaging lug 28. The second bracket 22 similarly bends outwardly at the top of the leg 26 to provide a second lateral gutter engaging lug 30. Preferably, an extension of the lug 30 bends arcuately upwardly to provide a convenient finger hold 32 to facilitate placing and removing the strainer at the mouth of the downspout.

It will be apparent from FIG. 3 that the diameter of the pan 10 should be slightly smaller than the diameter of the downspout 12 to provide a snug fit therein in order to prevent the passage of harmfull-y large solid materials into the downspout by by-passing the pan 10. It is contemplated that pans of standard conventional sizes can be designed and easily made for use with the usual downspout sizes, for example three inch, four inch, five inch and six inch diameters.

Referring nowttto FIGS. and 6, I show a modified strainer B wherein a perforated cylinder 34 axially projects above the pan to act as a relief through which the water may pass when the pan.10. becomes clogged with solid matter, A perforated .coyer 36 closes the top of the cylinder 34 so as to permit the entrance only of water and to exclude solid particles too large to pass through the holes 3 8.

In order to use my invention,.all that'is required is to simply place the strainer A or B over the mouth of a downspout 1 2 and .then lower. the pan 10 until the lateral lugs 28, 30 rest upon the bottom surface of the eaves-box or gutter 14. Thefinger hold 32 may be conveniently employed for this purpose. When it is desired to clean the pan 10, simply grasp the finger hold 32 and lift vertically to prevent entrapped solid material from falling off the strainer into the downspout 12.

Although I have described my invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a strainer for an eaves-box, the combination of,

(A) a circular pan,

(1) said pan being randomly perforated to provide a plurality of holes,

(2) said pan being disposed in a horizontal plane;

(B) a cylindrical construction being secured to and axially projecting above the top of the said pan,

(1) said construction being randomly perforated to provide a plurality of holes above the surface of the pan,

(2) said construction being substantially closed at the top thereof,

(3) said cylindrical construction being so constructed and arranged that said plurality of holes in said pan substantially surround said construction;

,7 (C) a first bracket connected to theedge of the said (1) said first bracket including a vertical leg rising vertically from the said pan, (2) said bracket terminating upwardly in a laterally extendinglug; (D) a second bracket connected tothe edge of the said pan, 1.

(.1) said second bracket including a vertical leg rising vertically from the said pan, (2) said second bracket terminating outwardly in a laterally extending lug, the said first bracket. and said second bracket lugs serving to engage the said strainer upon the eaves-box.

2. The invention of c'lairr'i'l wherein the said second bracket connects to the edge of the pan at a location diametrically opposed to the connection of a said first bracket and wherein the said laterally extending lug of the said second bracket terminates outwardly in a curved finger grasp.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 381,990 5/1888 Driller 210-446 X 644,262 2/1900 Stair 2l0238 1,269,902 6/1918 Butler 210469 1,270,274 6/1918 Dunn 210-498 X 1,664,564 4/1928 Lipner 210,-238 2,055,078 9/1936 Heffernan et al. 2l0-474 X 2,595,538 5/1952 Rausch 210-238 2,598,543 5/1952 Hoffman et a1. 210-477 X 2,654,097 10/1953 Epstein 210471 X 2,669,358 2/1954 Young 210-448 X 3,121,684 2/1964 Bugbird 210-474 X FOREIGN PATENTS 601,608 2/ 1933 Germany.

REUBEN FRIEDMAN, Primary Examiner.

C. DITLOW, Assistant Examiner. 

